Most large retail stores have a storage room where they store products that they don't put on the front shelves due to lack of space on the shelves in the retail area. These storage room shelves are ten, often fifteen feet high, sometimes even higher. When workers remove large, heavy, bulky packages from the top shelves unassisted or using only a ladder, they can fall and get hurt. When an employee gets hurt it not only means suffering for the employee, but suffering for the company or store who is responsible for the workers injuries.
Another dangerous way of getting a package off an overhead shelf is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,894,641, where a worker must carry a heavy platform to the desired site, and then use a separate ladder to get to the platform, put up with the risk of having the ladder, platform or both slip while climbing, and once on the platform, still having to go down a ladder carrying a heavy package, unless it is thrown.
Another prior art method shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,433 requires a separate stacker crane to get the packages placed at high levels. Stacker cranes need fuel, produce waste, require skills to operate, and are very noisy.
An object of this invention is to provide a safe, cost-effective way of getting packages from overhead areas down without hurting workers.
Another object of this invention is to make a platform that is safe to climb on and also has a safe way of bringing a package to ground level without requiring a worker to carry it down a ladder.
Another object of this invention is to create a safe, sturdy, useable platform that does not produce waste, require fuel, cause excessive noise pollution and requires very minimal skill to use.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a safe, sliding platform that can be used even if its supports are not completely parallel, providing typically a leeway space of between four to six inches from center either way.
Another object of this invention is to create a platform that cannot come off of its tracks and cause harm to a worker.